WIP Challenge - Check In, Day 19 - Monday

[the_rck]

Poll #14082

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

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Today I

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planned
2 (66.7%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

wrote
2 (66.7%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

edited
1 (33.3%)

posted
1 (33.3%)

rested
0 (0.0%)

did something else
0 (0.0%)

How I feel about today is

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Mean: 5.33 Median: 5 Std. Dev 1.25

Awful 1		0 (0.0%)
2		0 (0.0%)
3		0 (0.0%)
4		1 (33.3%)
5		1 (33.3%)
6		0 (0.0%)
7		1 (33.3%)
8		0 (0.0%)
9		0 (0.0%)
Wonderful 10		0 (0.0%)

Today's discussion question: How do you know when a story is finished?

I don't always know when a story has ended. It's a common question I ask my beta readers. I try to end things after some sort of major movement has happened, usually something internal to the main character. I think not knowing when the story's over is a side effect of often not knowing exactly where the story's going when I start out.

Comments

[dirty_diana]

hmmn, I guess I usually write in fic genres, or start with ideas, that typically have a specific goal. Like if the couple is finally together, then the story is over. Cue horn section and fade to black.

Having my tablet back is making it so much easier to keep plugging at the word counts, yay.

[lea_hazel]

It depends on the story. The very short stuff, it's not meant to "go" anywhere. There's an idea and I lay it out, and it's meant to represent the situation as it is. Usually it's more character rumination than action. Ship fic ends when the couple gets together, unless it's a crack ship, in which case I may be satisfied with getting them in the same room and/or interacting positively. Hurt/comfort ends when the character has attained some sort of comfort, whether it's a solution to their problem or just some relief from it. Plotty stuff is complex, because I tend to go for action-light plots, which rules out, "we killed the thing!" as an ending indicator.